[Phil_M]

Some folks ask that I make a thread about this brew. Here's my best shot at that!

First up: The recipe. I pulled the recipe from Stone's "The Craft of Stone Brewing Co." book, then they released the recipe on the internet while I was in the planning stages of this brew. Some adjustments were made to account for the inefficiency of my BIAB system, and I played with how the hops were used. So, "clone" may not be 100% correct, but I feel this beer will be similar to the original Levitation in spirit if nothing else.

Grist:

9 lbs 6.4 oz Breiss Pale Ale Malt
1 lb            Breiss Caramel 60L
8.7 oz         Muntons Extra Dark Crystal 150L (Recipe altered for my gear called for 9.3, but I had 8.7)
1.3 oz         Muntons Black Patent 500L

Hops:

0.240 oz      Columbus     First wort hop
0.967 oz      Amarillo       10 minutes remaining in boil
0.854 oz      Crystal         no-chill whirlpool for 30 minutes
0.253 oz      Simcoe        no-chill whirlpool for 30 minutes

Other:
8.3 gallons RO water
Whilfloc tablet (15 minutes)
2.65 g CaCl
2.65 g MgSO4
2.65 g CaSO4
0.62 g NaCl

Water mineral additions were calculated with the subscriber version of Bru'n water. Go donate and get a copy, it's worth it.

Didn't get any pics of the milling process/mineral additions. Not much to show there. I use a 3-roller Monster mill and a 1/2" drill to grind everything up. First hiccup of the day: after 20+ brews my bag is starting to wear out. There were a few holes at the bottom. Since the bag is far deeper than my kettle I just zip tied the bottom off above the holes, problem solved.

Doughed in at 157ºF, held at that temp for 60 minutes. Took a pH reading at the 15 minute mark, got 5.3. Was aiming for 5.4 but that's close enough, and I think I'm FINALLY getting a handle on water chemistry. Again, if you use Bru'n Water, go donate!

The brewery. Still unnamed. 


I've got a High Gravity BIAB system.


When I ordered this system I went ahead and got the RIMS/HERMS capable control box that they offer. Hopefully I'll be upgrading to one of those options later this year.


Can't brew without beer! Flying Dog Blood Line Ale.


Not much to see…


Bag removal/draining. The mesh is a paint strainer bag with the first wort hops inside.


Just starting to boil.


More to come later, I've still got 45 minutes left in the boil at this point. 

[Phil_M]

Beer is done, pretty much hit all my numbers. Ended up with 4.75 gallons of 1.048 wort. (Still working on figuring the dead space in my cooling system.)

Chilled everything down to about 70º, aerated with O2 and pitched my entire starter. Pics to come later.

[Rattlesnake44]

Looking good. Pretty cool set up.

[Phil_M]

Thanks! It got me into all grain, though there is a LOT that I'd like to change about my gear. Kinda one of those deals where after you brew with a system for a while you learn how well it works for you.

I bought the High Gravity system because I didn't want to build my own…but now I see that eventually I'll sell that control panel and design my own. I've run into issue with wort scorching as well, I can't fit a really low watt density element in that kettle. Reducing power to the element has solved that problem for now, but it takes an age for the wort to boil. Because of this, I bag all my kettle hops, don't want them scorching on the burner. High Gravity uses a sprayer nozzle in the lid to ensure the pump always has some resistance to work against, and that makes for a colossal mess as well.

All in all little things, and ones that I'll be able to fix as I got to a three vessel setup. Current kettle will become the hot liquor tank, no scorching concerns there so I can run that element wide open. I'm going to go with a Blichmann Boilcoil in whatever brew kettle I upgrade to, that should alleviate any scorching issues there. The shelving you see will be upgraded somewhat so I can use gravity to move wort around.

[Phil_M]

More pics:

Cooling rig. No water/sewer in the garage to install a utility sink there. Water is piped in from the laundry room, where I've got a y-splitter on the washing machine cold faucet. Sadly there's no room for a utility sink in there either. Hey, at least I've got a garage though! I keep the outlet from the Therminator submerged in star san until I start cooling.


Fermentation closet. On the left is the saison I've got going, one month later it's still bubbling pretty good. The levitation clone is on the right, a few small bubbles but not a lot of activity yet.

[Stevie]

Woah, carpet! You live on the edge.

[Phil_M]

Yeah, I'm hoping that it doesn't get trashed. If I do end up making a mess the previous owner of our condo left enough self-stick linoleum tiles for me to just rip up the carpet and put those down..

On the other hand, the carpet is junk anyway and we're pretty sure we'll have to replace it before my wife an I sell this place in a few years.

[Frankenbrew]

It looks like it's working well for you. Nice job! Brew on!

[tonyp]

Well, you brew in the corner of the room so what about Cornerstone Brewing...